'Soft skills' increasingly in demand among employers

Every workplace has its challenges, just as every worker struggles to find his or her place in the workforce.

But employers nationally are seeing more of a need for what are called "soft skills," and schools and job trainers are working to fill those gaps.

Simply put, soft skills are those intangible abilities that can be the difference between success or failure. They encompass everything from arriving on time, dressing appropriately and a positive attitude, to workers being able to adapt, pitch in during a crisis or simply perform duties in spite of setbacks.

In the next month, the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District will offer a soft skills workforce development program to residents living in Southtown Court and Loveman Village. The job training will be available to hundreds of families through the Alabama State Black Chamber of Commerce.

The two areas were chosen as they are being redeveloped with modern homes and green space, officials say, as Loveman Village is slated for a $80 million redevelopment. But HABD President/CEO Michael Lundy said the job training is just as important as better housing.

"We want to give our residents the tools they need to build a better life for themselves and their families," he said. "Financially and socially stable families are just as essential to healthy communities as attractive new developments."

Jerry Mitchell, the chamber president and CEO, said the training will involve communication skills, critical thinking and how a person can adapt into a work environment. Participants will go through five different workshops.

Mitchell said some soft skills are simply what you might call "emotional intelligence" - being adaptable, problem solving and the ability to employ critical thinking skills.

What can an employee do, for example, in an office where the supervisor "yells across the room" to get a point across? Or how does she learn to manage time when given several different tasks to perform before the end of the day? With a tightening labor market, some of that training that might normally have been part of the workload for a veteran employee must be learned "on the fly."

"It's not something that usually taught in academic settings," Mitchell said. "You have to remind people that conclusions can be drawn about how people dress, or when you show up for work late."

According to the Wall Street Journal, a recent LinkedIn examination over a year's time developed a list of sought after skills, such as communication, organization, punctuality, creativity and having a friendly personality.

Beyond the outward skills are the ability to work within a team and navigate interpersonal relationships.

By why the sudden demand for these skills? Pamela Satcher, a career resource specialist at Gadsden State Community College, said one reason can be found, paradoxically, in the rise of communication technology. As people have more ways to communicate with each other long distance, some skills for up-close interaction may be withering.

"Communication skills are the biggest need," she said. "For example, millennials are used to texting, they don't really verbalize things. And the ability to deal with conflict and adapt to change is needed.

"Things like that can be the difference between getting a job and keeping a job," Satcher said.

But unlike the core abilities needed to work, soft skills are easily attained through training, she said.

"It's not rocket science," she said. "Often times, people just don't realize the importance of it. But it is something you can learn. Anyone can learn to communicate."